Kisai Maru LCD Watch

A combination of edges and circles, Kisai Maru features an intuitive time display in mirrored LCD, framed by a custom designed, aluminium case with a faceted surface and dual color anodised finish.

Kisai Maru is a creative and functional design that includes time, date, alarm, backlighting and animation.

Visually Appealing & Easy to Read at a Glance

Maru means circle in Japanese and Maru displays the time in one simple curved line. The inner facing hand points to the hour, the outer facing hand points to the minutes. It's just like a conventional clock. See the animated explanation below to the right.

The date is read in exactly the same way, the inner hand points to the month, the outer hand points to the day. Beneath the mineral crystal lens, the mirrored LCD features a color tint that brings the display to life.

A Lightweight, Aluminium Watch with a Faceted Surface

Kisai Maru is cast from high grade aluminium and is therefore a light wrist watch that's really comfortable to wear. The faceted surfaces on the casing taper at precise angles creating a futuristic appearance that contrasts with the simplistic time display.

The anodised case and strap has a satin finish and comes in stylish shades of black, silver or sienna. Each has a contrasting color tone that runs in a precise groove around the circular display and through the strap.

Time, Date, Alarm, Animation & More

As well as time and date, Maru has an alarm and EL backlighting, so you can easily view the time at night. Kisai Maru features a custom designed animation which causes the display to spin and rotate once every five minutes, a function which can be turned on or off. See the video demo above to see this in action.

Kisai Maru has an adjustable strap making it suitable for small and large wrists and uses a standard CR2025 watch battery which will last at least 12 months and can easily be replaced.

Each part of Kisai Maru has been individually designed and manufactured, including the case, strap and uniquely programmed display.

Like all watches from Tokyoflash Japan it is a limited edition design which means that it is guaranteed to be an original watch that not many other people own.

In February 2010, Tokyoflash Japan opened its Design Studio Blog to showcase concept designs and request ideas for new watch designs from fans. The idea for Kisai Maru's display was submitted by Sam Jerichow from Germany. This is the eighth concept submitted by a fan to become reality.

When I made my early sketches for the display, I was trying to give analog time telling a new guise. Then I actually designed a pocket watch for my new generation digital analog display.

When I saw the first images of the wrist watch, I was surprised how good it looked and how nicely the display has been embedded with the circle in the case and the all-around-the-wrist line in the strap. I'm now the proud owner of a sienna Maru. The satin finish is lovely and the mix of edges and circles works great!

The name Maru, that I gave the original concept, was translated in a fantastic way. Thank you Tokyoflash! I'd also like to thank my fans who say what they like and what they don't ;) - the support is great!